DUBAI: There’s no place like home, and for more than 100 children of determination, the Senses Residential and Day Care for Special Needs in Dubai is just that.
A sumptuous iftar was arranged at the centre on Wednesday for the students and friends and sponsors of Senses, Rotary Club of Jumeirah.
The Senses Residential and Day Care Centre, founded by former employee of the Ministry of Social Affairs Nadia Khalil Al Sayegh, is the first and only non-profit residential care facility for people of determination in the UAE.
Al Sayegh said she always wanted to provide a nurturing environment for special needs children where they could take part in rehabilitative and educational programmes that help them develop new skills and improve their abilities.
“I felt that it was my responsibility to provide a family and a home, whether it was to the children I took in or the employees I hired. I really hope I’ve fulfilled my duty as their mother because they truly make me feel like Mama Nadia, and that makes me prouder than any title I could have earned,” Al Sayegh said.
The centre was gifted to Al Sayegh by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister and Vice-President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, after he heard about her efforts to provide specialised programmes and residential care for people of determination.
Al Sayegh said, “I will never forget His Highness Shaikh Mohammad’s unwavering support from the very start of the centre’s development. He paid off our debts and gifted us the villas so that we could take in more children.”
Al Sayegh noted that it is important for everyone to feel that working at Senses is “not a job” but a “love” they give to the students.
The children at the centre also share that same admiration for Al Sayegh, who they lovingly call mama. One student, Zayed Al Qah’tani, known for his musical talent and singing, expressed his love for all the staff members who, he says, have become a part of his family.
“We are one big family. I love Mama Nadia, Doctor Lina, and Khulood,” he said.
Senses employs 147 staff members who help provide round-the-clock care for the 110 children, guaranteeing that individual assistance is available at all times.
Specialised programmes that combine speech, music, art, life skills, and physiotherapy among other forms of therapy are available to children with mild or severe physical disabilities, autism, and Down syndrome.
The professional programmes ensure that the youngsters receive the highest level of efficient and quality care so they can obtain jobs and maintain a social life. The centre is entirely dependent on donations and sponsors to provide the necessary care for all the students.
For more information on Senses, call 971-44572675 or visit http://sensescentre.org/index.html
— The writer is an intern at Gulf News
